How to write the letter W

Forming the capital W

Once V is secure, W is simply two V's holding hands. Keep an eye on width: W is the widest capital and children routinely let it swallow the next letter's space. Same shape and direction as lowercase w.

Start: Top line, at the left edge of the letter space

1. Four joined slants with no lift: down-right to the baseline, up-right to the top line, down-right to the baseline again, then up-right to finish on the top line.

Forming the lowercase w

w is two v shapes sharing a middle peak, so teach v first and w costs almost nothing. Check that the middle peak touches the midline exactly rather than overshooting it.

Start: On the midline, at the left of the letter space

1. Slide diagonally down and right to the baseline, up and right to the midline, down and right to the baseline again, and up and right to the midline, four diagonals in one unbroken zigzag.

Common mistakes with w

These are the errors that actually show up on the page, rather than a generic list. Watching for them while a child writes is far more useful than correcting the finished sheet.

• Rounding the two bottom points into a pair of scoops.
• Producing three points instead of two.
• Mixing it up with m, which is the same silhouette turned over.
• Letting the middle peak rise above the midline, or stop short of reaching it.

And with the capital W

• Rounding both bottom points, which gives a doubled u shape.
• A middle peak that stops below the top line, or pokes above it.
• One half noticeably wider than the other.
• Losing count and drawing three or five slants instead of four.
• Swapping W and M, a documented reversal pair, one is the other turned over.
• Letting the letter sprawl into the space belonging to its neighbours.

Letters that move the same way

Diagonal-stroke letters: Straight slanted strokes rather than curves, every one of them travelling top to bottom. v is the anchor: w repeats it, y extends its right arm below the baseline, x and k cross diagonals against another stroke, and z hangs two diagonally joined horizontals off the same movement.

Teaching these together is more efficient than working through the alphabet in order, because the hand is learning one movement rather than several unrelated ones.

vxykz

Practise W with words

Once the letter is reliable on its own, move to words that start with it. Letters learned in isolation often fall apart the first time a child has to join them to anything.